Written by Adrija Roychowdhury, The Indian Express
On December 21, 2012, the streets surrounding Rashtrapati Bhawan in
New Delhi was teeming with thousands of people out in anger against the
brutal rape of a 23-year-old girl. The savagery involved in the incident
had appalled the country. The protests in Delhi soon found an echo all
over the country. Never before had an entire country anywhere in the
world come out in vehement protest against the inability of the
government to provide adequate security to women. The incident was soon
followed with some significant changes in laws regarding rape cases in
India. The Delhi gang rape case and the protests against it went on to
become a landmark moment in the history of the feminist movement in
India.
While the protests against the Delhi gang rape went on to acquire
international stature, it was definitely not the first instance when
women or women related issues became the face of a social movement in
India. The feminist movement in India has come a long way since its
inception in the nineteenth century when the mother figure was upheld as
the epitome of strength, protection and endurance and used for the sake
of achieving both gender equality and nationalist goals. By the
twentieth century, the feminist discourse in the country evolved to
widen the concept of equality, including within it issues related to a
woman’s right over her body, her control over her life and the legality
of crimes related to women. Overtime, on various instances women have
risen in unison not just for gender related issues, but also spearheaded
some significant socio-economic movements in the country.
On International Women’s Day, here is a tribute to few moments in
contemporary Indian history when women have come out on the streets to
hold mass protests demanding their rights.
The Chipko movement
In the absence of men, it was the women of the village who took it upon
themselves to step out of their homes and face the industrialists head
on. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Concerned with the preservation of ecological balance, the Chipko
movement in the state of Uttarakhand (then Uttar Pradesh) started in the
early 1970s. The protests were against the government’s policy of
handing out contracts to industrial giants to utilise forest produce for
making profits. The movement had started off under the leadership of
the Dashauli Gram Swarajya Sangh (DGSS). However, despite repeated
protests the forest department went ahead and auctioned out about 2500
trees of the Reni forest. While the DGSS planned out a demonstration
against the auction, the local government conspired to keep all male
activists away from the region.
In the absence of men, it was the women of the village who took it
upon themselves to step out of their homes and face the industrialists
head on. Gaura Devi, a middled aged Bhotia woman was the one to spot the
men of the company who came to fell the trees. She immediately
mobilised about 30 women to lead the movement. Challenging the men to
first shoot her down before touching the trees she forced them to
retreat. Soon after the state government investigated the case and
withdrew the company from the Reni forests. This incident sparked off
similar movements in other parts of the sub-Himalayan region such as in
Gopeshwar (1975), Bhynder valley (1978) and Dongri Paintoli (1980).
While the Chipko movement was primarily a protest demanding
ecological protection, the involvement of women in the forefront gave it
an added impetus of women asking for a stronger representation in
decision making.
Jagmati Sangwan’s movement against khap panchayats
Headed by reformer Jagmati Sangwan, close of 1000 women were part of
the protest, many among them were married to the men who supported the
panchayat ruling.
In 1995, a young boy in Jind district of Haryana had married a girl
from his village against the orders of the khap panchayat. As a
punishment, the panchayat members ruled the rape of the boy’s
12-year-old sister. What ensued was a bitter struggle between the men
and women of the village, the men being supportive of the ruling of the
panchayat and the women vehemently protesting against it. Headed by
reformer Jagmati Sangwan, close of 1000 women were part of the protest,
many among them were married to the men who supported the panchayat
ruling.
This was one of the first mass movements organised by Sangwan. Over
the years she went on to spearhead a strong women’s movement in Haryana,
mobilising close to 50,000 women to join the Janwadi Mahila Samiti. She
along with her supporters led passionate campaigns against female
foeticide and honour killing in the state. Her biggest target were the
Khap panchayats, who she believes operate along the notion of women
being the honour of the family.
Naked protest of Manipur’s mothers
On July 11, 2004 a 32-year-old woman named Thangjam Manorama was
picked up by members of the Assam Rifles (a paramilitary force unit in
India) in Manipur on allegations of her being part of the banned
People’s Liberation Army. Next morning, she was found raped and murdered
with bullets pumped into her vagina.
Five days after the murder, 30 women came out on the streets of
Imphal in protest against the army atrocity against Manorama. Stark
naked, they walked down to the Kangla fort in Imphal where the Assam
Rifles was stationed, carrying a board that read ‘Indian Army rape us.’
“We are all Manorama’s mothers,” screamed the women. The shocking
protest eventually resulted in the Assam Rifles vacating the Kangla
fort.
Anti-liquor movement in Andhra Pradesh
In the early 1990s, women in rural Andhra Pradesh took it upon
themselves to fight against liquor dependency among their men and the
subsequent verbal, physical and emotional abuse that followed. They had
just one simple demand: “no drinking or selling liquor”. Led by a woman
called Sandhya, the movement began as a dharna at the collectorate
followed by the demand to stop sale of liquor in the village.
When liquor packets reached the sale counters, women rushed there and
destroyed them. They later marched to the chief minister with a letter
written in blood stating “we do not need liquor that drains our blood”.
When the CM refused to ban liquor, they decided to sleep across his
door, preventing him from leaving the house. Once they realised the
futility of pleading for official intervention, they decided to reform
their men on the home front. Soon enough, they declared that any man
found drinking would have his head shaven and anyone selling liquor
would be marched through the village on a donkey.
The women led struggle ultimately led to a statewide ban on liquor in
1995. Remarking on the uniqueness of the movement, political scientist
Kancha Ilaiah wrote that “the methods that they use are neither Gandhian
nor Marxian but uniquely their own.”
Gulabi Gang
Calling themselves the Gulabi Gang (pink gang), the group did not just
limit their activities to a fight against gendered social evils, but
rather battled against several other wrongdoings such as hoarding,
bribery, caste discrimination and several others. EXPRESS PHOTO BY
PURUSHOTTAM SHARMA.170909
In 2002, Suman Singh Chauhan of Badausa in Uttar Pradesh’s Banda was
faced with an incident wherein her friend had been beaten up by her
alcoholic husband. She gathered some of her friends and neighbours and
rushed to her friend’s house and thrashed her husband publicly. This
incident sparked off the origin of a group of women vigilantes in
Badausa who took it upon themselves to correct social evils.
Calling themselves the Gulabi Gang (pink gang), the group did not
just limit their activities to a fight against gendered social evils,
but rather battled against several other wrongdoings such as hoarding,
bribery, caste discrimination and several others. Wearing pink sarees
and carrying bamboo sticks, they frequently resorted to violence in
order to make their voices heard.
Badausa is listed among the 200 poorest districts in India and
engulfed in problems of illiteracy, caste and gender violence. Most of
the women in the gang belong to the Dalit community. Speaking to BBC,
the current self proclaimed leader of the gang, Sampat Pal Devi is
reported to have said: “Nobody comes to our help in these parts. The
officials and the police are corrupt and anti-poor. So sometimes we have
to take the law in our hands. At other times, we prefer to shame the
wrongdoers.”
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The International Women’s Day is observed on March 8th every year.
The event is believed to have begun in 1908 when about 15,000 US women
organised a march in the New York City. The agenda behind this march was
the demand for equal voting rights, shorter working hours and better
way(Women were/are not paid as much as their male counterparts).
However, the first International Women’s day was celebrated on 19th
Match in 1911 and first women’s day was observed in Germany in 1914. In
1977, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution and since then March
8th is celebrated as the International Women’s Day.
Now, that we have gotten around the history, let us have the
understanding of the necessity to celebrate a particular day for half
the population of the world. Considering we live in the part of a world,
where movies can be banned due to being ‘lady oriented’ should be
enough to answer the question. But every once in a while, somebody comes
along, breaking the barriers of patriarchy, rising high enough for the
world to look up and kneel before them. Such women need to be
celebrated.
Following are the examples of 5 such Indian women who have inspired generations and continue to do so:
Kalpana Chawla
Kalpana Chawla easily makes to the top of the list. Born in Karnal,
Punjab on March 17, 1962, Chawla’s first mission began on November 19,
1997, as part of the six-astronaut crew that flew the Space Shuttle
Columbia flight STS-87. Chawla was the first Indian-born woman and the
second Indian person to fly in space. In the year 2000, Chawla was named
for her second flight as a part of the crew STS-107. On January 16,
2003, Chawla finally returned to space aboard Space Shuttle Columbia.
The shuttle, unfortunately, disintegrated on his way back home in Texas,
killing the entire crew. Unfortunate though it was, Kalpana Chawla
became a stuff of legends, of tales and folklores. She became a beacon
of hope and inspiration for those who chose to believe.
Indra Nooyi
(Reuters)
Yes, interesting choice for the second spot. But in a world dominated
by business’men’, Nooyi has emerged a corporate world leader as the
Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo, the second-largest
food and beverage business in the world by net revenue. In 2014, she was
ranked 13 on the list of Forbes World’s 100 most powerful women and
82nd most powerful woman on the Fortune list in 2016.
M C Mary Kom
(Reuters)
Not Priyanka Chopra
from some village in the North East. If you didn’t know that, you
should just stop reading this. Born on November 4, 1982, Mary Kom is an
Olympics boxer hailing from the Kom-Kuki tribe in Manipur. She is a
five-time World Amateur Boxing champion, and the only woman boxer to
have won a medal in each one of the six world championships. Mary Kom,
struggled through the rise in ranks. And hailing from the most ignored
part of the country didn’t help. Kom did not let marriage and troubles
that follow motherhood come in the path of her success and is reportedly
training for thew 2020 Olympics.
Arundhati Roy
(Reuters)
Born on November 24, 1961, Arundhati Roy is an Indian author best
known for the novel “The God of Small Things”, which won her the Man
Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997. The novel became the biggest-selling
book by a nonexpatriate Indian author. Roy is also a known political
activist and has been involved in numerous humanitarian causes. She, in
fact, has had a sedition case filed against her. Now, I am not saying
that is the wisest thing to follow here but the woman has been standing
up for her beliefs and her rights against much stronger forces.
Sushmita Sen
(Reuters)
Born into a Bengali family in Hyderabad, Sushmita Sen, rose to
stardom with the title of the Miss Universe in 1994. Although her
venture into Bollywood wasn’t as successful as the runner-up (Aishwarya Rai),
Sen is still considered to be one fine actor. The actress has been
working on the independent scene for over a decade now. In an industry
and a country where taboos become the oxygen we breathe, Sen has adopted
and successfully raised two girls with her relationship status being
single. So, everyone out there who thinks motherhood is what a woman
should want, here is a woman, successful in the own right, raising two
girls without the requirement of a father.
Nari Shakti Puraskaar
Calling them 'unsung heroes', the Union
women and child development (WCD) ministry has shortlisted 33 women,
who will be awarded Nari Shakti Puraskaar on the occasion of
International Women's day by President Pranab Mukherjee.
Among the
awardees is the state of Rajasthan for its 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao'
campaign that took its sex ratio from 929 in December 2016 to 942
through a statewide awareness campaign. The 'Annaprashan' and 'Goad
Bharai' programmes organised regularly for pregnant women at anganwadi
centres in all districts of Rajasthan also helped it make the cut.
The
ministry will also award three women scientists - Subha Varier, B
Codanayaguy and Anatta Sonney - who have contributed to the launch of
104 satellites by ISRO on February 15.
Varier
contributed in finalising the configuration of Satish Dhawan Space
Centre and SHAR, Shriharikota range, for real time display. Codanayaguy
from Puducherry has been with ISRO for over 30 years now and was
responsible for the control system of all the solid motors of the PSLV
C37 launch vehicle. Annata has helped ISRO design and develop orbit
determination systems.
THE AWARDEES
THE AWARDEES
Asia's first woman to drive a diesel train at the age of 20 - Mumtaz
Kazi - will also receive the award. "I draw my inspiration from my
father and had an inclination to drive a train since I was young. I had
applied for this job back in 1988 and joined Indian Railways in 1991,"
46-year-old Kazi told Mail Today.
Motorcyclist Pallavi Fauzdar,
who has mobilised her passion to raise awareness about malnutrition in
children and female foeticide, will also be honoured. Fauzdar has
conquered eight mountain passes above 5,000 metres altitude in a single
trip, covering 3,500 kms of rough terrain in Himachal, Leh, Ladakh and
Kashmir.
Anoyara Khatun of West Bengal, who has saved 50 minors
from child marriage and 85 girls from getting trafficked, also caught
the eye of the WCD ministry. Khatun will also be awarded for helping 200
girls pursue education.
India's first female graphic novelist,
Amruta Patil, will also be awarded for her work in memento mori,
sexuality, myth and sustainable living through graphics.
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/international-womens-day-unsung-sheroes-nari-shakti-puraskaar-women-and-child-development-ministry/1/899313.html
